Phoenix of Colophon (Φοῖνιξ ὁ Κολοφώνιος) Life Phoenix of Colophon was an archaic Greek iambic poet from the Ionian city of Colophon in Asia Minor, active in the 7th–6th century BCE. No biographical details survive beyond his identification as an iambographer. He was a contemporary of early figures like Archilochus, and his city was a significant cultural center in Ionia.

Works Only a single two-line fragment of his iambic poetry survives, preserved by the later author Athenaeus in his Deipnosophistae [1]. The work from which it came is otherwise lost.

Significance Phoenix is a minor but attested practitioner of early Greek iambic poetry, a genre characterized by satire and invective. His sole fragment places him within the Ionic literary tradition of western Asia Minor. His near-total obscurity exemplifies the fragmentary transmission of much archaic Greek poetry.

Sources 1. Perseus Digital Library (Tufts University): https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A2013.01.0002%3Abook%3D2%3Achapter%3D22%3Asection%3D40 2. Smith's Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (via Perseus): https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0104:entry=phoenix-bio-2